Pass Me By
by girlwithacinderblockgarden
Summary: College!AU. He saw her for the first time across the student center. He was minding his own business, trying to finish a paper before class started, when he saw a mop of brown curls in front of the coffee station. Honestly, it wasn't the hair that caught his eye so much as the flailing nature of it while she danced (rather badly) to whatever was playing in her headphones.


**College!AU**

**Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Finals approacheth, so I found myself with plot bunnies again.**

**Recommendations for songs include: Pass Me By (R5), Things Are Looking Up (R5), Shut Up and Dance (Walk the Moon), Say You Like Me (We the Kings), Chelsea (The Summer Set), Mindset (Every Avenue).**

He saw her for the first time across the student center. He was minding his own business, trying to finish a paper before class started, when he saw a mop of brown curls in front of the coffee station. Honestly, it wasn't the hair that caught his eye so much as the flailing nature of it while she danced (rather badly) to whatever was playing in her headphones while she poured cream into her cup. _Who dances like that in public_, he questioned as he turned his attention back to his laptop. That question was answered quickly as he jumped up to avoid the coffee that was spilling rapidly across the table toward his computer. The girl was staring at the coffee from the floor, a horrified expression on her face, one earbud knocked out, and a rapidly tilting bun that must have come from the fall.

"Oh. My. God. I am so sorry, I wasn't paying attention, and I tripped, and now my coffee is all over your table, and I hope I didn't ruin your laptop, because that would be awful, and how is that for a first impression of a person, damaging expensive possessions?"

He didn't think he'd ever heard anyone talk that fast before in his life.

"The laptop is fine. I got it out of the way in time."

"Oh, thank god, I was worried. I was just trying to get to the library before all the good tables were gone, and I am so sorry that I spilled this coffee on you."

He looked her up and down. Her hair was in a messy bun, she was layering a band tshirt with hoodie, wearing skinny jeans, and Converse. She didn't look remotely put together or like the sorority girls on campus, but somehow, he was okay with that.

"State Champs, huh?" he asked, extending a hand out to her.

She looked at him, confused, but took the hand anyway, standing up.

"Your shirt," he continued. "I didn't know anyone on this campus actually listened to them."

She smiled, and he was surprised by how genuine it seemed. He was starting to get the impression that this girl didn't do anything halfway.

"Oh yeah! They're fantastic, and I really love this shirt, but apparently, no one else knows about them, which is really sad. I just love music, really, all kinds. Which is why I tripped, probably. Maybe I shouldn't dance and walk at the same time. Do you know where they keep the napkins around here? I need to clean up this mess."

He was still amazed by the speed of the words coming out of this tiny girl. Granted, it might have been the effect of the caffeine in such a small space. But still. The girl's words came out of her like a steamroller. He reached behind her to grab some napkins from the table near them. She took them gratefully, and he watches her for a moment before helping her out.

"My name's Ally," she offered as she moved to throw away the soggy mess she now held.

"Austin."

They stared at each other for a moment before she looked away, a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"I'll be seeing you?" she asked.

He nodded and smiled. It was hell of a Monday so far.

* * *

The next time he saw her, she looked nothing like the first time they met. This Ally was wearing a sundress and flats, but she was still scooting around with her headphones and looking like she might take someone out with her hair whipping around her face while she danced to some unknown song.

Naturally, that someone was him.

"Oh my god, I am so sor… Austin?" she exclaimed, all of a sudden in his face, looking entirely concerned about the watering coming from his eye.

"Hi, Ally…"

Her words came out like a steamroller again, running him over with apologies and a careful hand inspecting his 'injury'. He still swore he had never heard anyone talk so fast before in his life, but he was willing to bet she was drinking her weight in caffeine again. Sure enough, he spotted a cup of coffee abandoned by her purse.

"You really have to believe I'm not this clumsy all the time, I promise. It's just that I was listening to some new music, and it feels amazing outside, and I just got caught up in the moment and I guess my hair was going a little wild, and I knew I should have worn it up today, and I am so sorry… Again."

He laughed, and she relaxed a little. For someone so oblivious to whatever was going on around her, she was definitely tuned in once you got her attention.

"I have one condition for this apology," he said.

"Anything."

"What music was making you so caught up that you smacked a guy in the face with your hair?"

Her face broke into a grin, and she dug her phone out of the pocket of her dress. Unlocking it, she handed it over to him, eliciting a raised eyebrow at her tastes.

"First State Champs, and now The Summer Set. Who are you, woman?" he teased, handing it back to her.

"Someone who doesn't discriminate about songs that make you feel something?" she quipped back.

They smile and compare more music tastes before someone yells at them to get out of the way. He supposed that they had a point, since they were still sitting in the middle of the walkway to the library, and taking up a lot of space at that.

It seemed that this girl was starting to make an impression on him.

* * *

The next time he saw her was once he added her on Facebook. _Ally Dawson is now friends with Austin Moon_, the notification read. He thought it sounded accurate.

Her music obsession made more sense once he found out her major was music education, with a minor in composition. His slight obsession with her made more sense to him when she invited him to hang out in her favorite practice room on campus. The girl could play piano like no one he'd ever heard before. She played him something he didn't recognize.

"It's just something I wrote. There're lyrics. But I'm not exactly good with singing in front of other people."

Being a performance major with no composition abilities was a disadvantage, to say the least, but he was somewhat determined that she was going to help with that. She balanced her coffee cup on the edge of the piano, and he slid in next to her.

And a few hours later, he's got a song.

Or they do.

He knows he couldn't have done it without her.

He saw her again at his performance. But he did ask her to come.

Front row, center, and she wasn't holding a coffee for once. But she was there for him, and that was what mattered.

"Oh my god, you sounded so good, and it went off without a hitch, and the way you hit that last note, I thought every girl in the room was going to swoon, because it was just so, SO good!"

He'd started to realize the pace she talked at was normal for her, with or without caffeine. Oddly enough, he had embraced it. Sort of like he had embraced the weird, wired nature of Ally.

"Thanks, Als," he said, and pulled her into a hug. He might have held on longer than was really appropriate, but he hoped she didn't notice. He got the impression that the Latina staring him down right beside her did, though. They had met briefly, but it was enough for him to know that she was her best friend, and that he had better continue to make a good impression on her if he ever wanted to hang out and write music with Ally again.

* * *

He was officially sunk as soon as he walked into the practice room to see her sitting on the piano bench with a little girl, coaching her through her scales and looking for all the world like the greatest teacher ever. He was gone. That was it. No more questioning. He had it bad for Ally.

She looked up to see him, and signaled that she'd just be a few more minutes. He nodded, and leaned up against the doorframe to watch. There was passion and joy in what she was doing, and it was so infectious. She was clearly in the right career path.

She sent the child off with a hug, and before she could make her way back into the practice room, he wrapped her up in one of his own. He dropped his head down (and it was a significant way down, mind you) to meet her own, and just as she started to talk, he kissed her.

He'd have to note for later that kissing significantly slowed down her speech. Or at least returned it to normal human speeds.

In the meantime, he would just continue kissing her.

* * *

"You know, most normal people don't consume this much caffeine," he told her one day as they were snuggled up on a couch at the campus Starbucks.

"Normal people don't have as much going on as I do, Austin," she giggled. He supposed that was true. The girl was like a Energizer bunny, hopping around from classes to her teaching internship to music lessons to spending time with him.

"Besides, I need the energy to keep up with you all the time. Dating you is kind of a full time job."

He laughed, and she snuggled deeper into his arms. That was a mistake, considering the status of the coffee cup in her hands that was currently tipped over and staining his pants and burning the ever-loving crap out of his thighs.

They jumped up and Ally went dashing off for napkins, yelling apologies over her shoulder as she went.

He sighed heavily as he dabbed at the stain on his pants. This wasn't going to end well.

"Let's just go back to my apartment so I can change, okay? On the bright side, there's probably a song hiding in here somewhere."

She nodded, and he took her hand as they walked out to the car. He drove them back quickly, because somehow, her sugared drink was becoming increasingly sticky on his thighs, and he couldn't wait to get out of them.

"Let me wash them for you, at least," said Ally as they walked into his room.

"You think you can handle that?" he teased, starting to work his belt loose.

Her eyes froze as he slipped the pants down his legs and walked toward his closet for a new pair. She picked the pants up off the floor and started to fold them before he turned around over his shoulder to look at her.

"Screw the pants," she said, not so eloquently, and slammed the door shut before jumping into his arms.

He, for one, did not have any complaints about their newfound status in his bed. The pants could wait. Exploring Ally couldn't.

He found that there was a certain musicality to everything she did. From the way she stretched out to the sounds she made, she was music in a person. And he wanted to listen to this song for as long as he possibly could.

* * *

They were listening to a new band she had found while stretched out between classes. He wasn't much for the sound of them, but he was intoxicated by the way she was throwing her whole heart into explaining why they were so good.

"There's just something about how he hits the chorus and it takes off, like it's a rocket, or maybe like the moment you know you're in love with someone, and it just makes you feel like you can do anything at all, and I can't stop listening to this!"

He thought he knew the feeling she's talking about, because that moment is right now. Ally was going off about a band he could care less about at 1000mph, but she was just full of everything that made her Ally. She was passionate, and kind, and goofy, and she looked insanely gorgeous with the sunlight hitting her hair. And he loved her. It was simple.

And so he kissed her and whispered those three words as he pulled away from her. Her eyes went huge, and she tackled him down to the ground with kisses and squealing and _yes, I love you, too_s spilling from her lips. He knew that this meant that the song they were listening to is officially their song, but he didn't care. This woman was his destiny. So he'd put up with the cheesy, yet somehow accurate lyrics.

God knows he'd be able to write his own about this girl.


End file.
